Future of state-supported homes for disabled up for debate

AUSTIN — Some legislative committee hearings get emotional, and there have been quite a few of those this year.

This spring, for example, there was one on whether 17-year-olds accused of a crime should be tried as adults or as minors, and another on whether Texans with concealed handgun licenses have the right to carry their weapons in public view.

But few public hearings get as emotional as when advocates for mentally disabled Texans argue about closing any or all 13 state-supported living centers, including one in Lubbock.

The facilities, formerly known as state schools, provide around-the-clock care for more than 3,600 Texans with a wide range of physical and cognitive disabilities.

The members of the Sunset Advisory Commission, the joint panel that evaluates the performance of state agencies and then recommends to the Texas Legislature whether the reviewed offices should be abolished, overhauled or remain unchanged, will find out as early as Tuesday how passionate this issue can get.

The panel of five representatives, five senators and two public members will consider a staff recommendation to close the Austin facility and five others — which have yet to be targeted — between 2017 and 2022.

“Maintaining this large system of state-run facilities is costly, involving more than 13,900 employees and a budget of $661.9 million a year,” a 90-page staff report states in its summary. “Texas can no longer delay closing some of its costly and problematic state-supported living centers.”

The Austin facility was targeted for closing by Aug. 31, 2017, the last day of the 2016 fiscal year, because it has a history of “placing residents at serious risk or harm or death,” the report states.

The Sunset staff also recommends closing five other centers because the facilities “have made little progress meeting the requirements of the DOJ settlement case in five years,” the report states.

This is in reference to a series of investigations of abuse and neglect the U.S. Department of Justice conducted in the previous decade when the Lubbock facility was the first to be investigated. In 2009, the state agreed to a $112 million settlement with the DOJ over extensive abuse and neglect at facilities.

When the Sunset Commission hears public testimony on the pros and cons of closing six state-supported living centers, the panel should expect to hear from two groups advocating for physically and mentally disabled Texans.

One group favors closing the centers on grounds the facilities have a long history of abuse and neglect and the living conditions remain dangerous. The more than $600 million the state spends annually in those facilities would be better spent on funding community-based services, homes that accommodate an average of six to eight people, they argue.

The other group supports the centers because they argue community-based care is not for everyone. Thanks to around-the-clock care, only the state-supported living centers can care for people with severe medical and cognitive disabilities, the supporters of the facilities argue.

The Sunset staff sees more merit on the arguments of the first group.

“SSLCs have higher rates of confirmed abuse, neglect and exploitation than community group homes,” the report states.

State Rep. Four Price, vice chairman of the Sunset Commission, said though the panel takes the staff’s recommendations seriously, it is too early to say what will happen to the state-supported living centers.

“It is not time to sound off alarm bells because we are a long way from making final decisions as a commission and further away from the Legislature enacting a bill,” Price, R-Amarillo, said. “The reality is that the process is just that, and we are in the beginning stages.

“The important thing that I stress to anyone interested in an issue under Sunset review is that there are multiple opportunities for the public to provide input,” Price added. “I think the public testimony and input is absolutely critical.”

State Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the Sunset Commission, echoed those sentiments.

“The Sunset staff findings are on point, and their ideas for policy changes have merit,” Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said about five recommendations the Sunset staff made last month.

“Each of these recommendations will be carefully considered, and the public will have ample opportunity to weigh in on these ideas in the weeks ahead,” Nelson said in a statement.

As of Aug. 31, Texas had 13 state-supported living centers for physically and mentally disabled people, the largest number of such institutions in the nation. Below are the facilities located throughout the state.